Eartha Kitt is a sultry, sexy, lovely performer extraordinaire! She's
the kitten with intense
eyes, and her moves are sinuous. It was 1978, and Eartha was
rebounding from a career
hiatus that was cut short by the White House.

She was starring in Timbuktu on Broadway and her spectacular
entrance alone was
worth the price of the ticket. She was carried out on stage, sitting on
the shoulders of a once Mr.
Universe. Her opening line, she sizzled, "I'm here." The audience ate
it up.

In June, I somehow got tickets to attend the Tony Awards and the Ball
afterward. After the ball
was over (isn't that from Showboat?), we headed over to Ted
Hook's Backstage
restaurant/theater bar. Around two A.M., the place was clearing out,
maybe only twenty people
in the joint. V.J., known to his friends as Billy Finn, was a little
tipsy. Let me rephrase that. V.J.
was excessively tipsy! He, and about ten others, sat around the piano
having nightcaps. I don't
remember if Steve Ross was on the keyboard that night, but many were
the nights we were
entertained by Mr. Piano.

Eartha Kitt was coming out of the rear dining room, so V.J. walks,
stumbles, more like it, over to
Eartha and jokingly says, "yo! Eartha, sing Melancholy Baby for
us." Eartha smiled and
V.J. said, "just kidding Eartha, we loves ya hon!" Her manager, or
arranger, put his arm out to
allow her passage.

"I guess we'll just have to pay to hear ya sing. See ya in
Timbuktu!

At that point, Eartha Kitt spun around, smiled at V.J. and walked over
to the piano. She
politely asked the piano player if her friend could accompany her. And
then Eartha Kitt
sang to this audience of ten at the piano bar. She sang no ordinary
song either. She slayed
the whole group to tears with her rendition of All By Myself.
As Eartha was
walking out the front door, she heard a group behind her yelling in
unison, "we love you
Eartha!"

She was blackballed by the White House by Lyndon Johnson, who was
President at the time.
America was in a war with Vietnam, and Ladybird Johnson was running
around America
planting trees with her stupid Beautify America program. Boys
were dying in the
battlefield, and she's plantin' trees!

When Eartha went to the White House for some kind of affair, she told
Lady Bird Johnson
that the First Lady's program "was a mere pacifier and that the first
priority of the country
should be to end the war in Vietnam." The President was furious! He
called ABC, CBS and
NBC the next day and told the network V.I.P.'s, "I don't want to see
that woman's face on
the air again." The White House also kept a secret CIA file on Eartha.

Her career paid the price, but I admire Eartha. She stood up for what
she believed in and had
the courage of her convictions.

Today, Eartha is on tour with her nightclub act. I caught it in San
Francisco. It's a performance
that should not be missed. Run! Go see her. She's simply a finely
tuned stick of dynamite!
I wonder if she remembers me. I doubt it, but I just know she will
never forget the night at
Backstage!

Note: Eartha was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in
Timbuktu.